So what did Santa bring your kitchen?

Aren't the syrah just the cabernet shape but larger yet?

They are pretty close. In fact sometimes I can't tell when quickly looking into the cabinet and grabbing. But the syrah have a wider bowl and more of a curve, whereas the cabernet glasses are more vertical/straight.

The cabernet are still usable, but I guess I'm similar to Bob in that I prefer syrah for my general all purpose (provides more perfume and also just feels better in my hand), burgundy for burgundy and the like, and then riesling for some white wines. That's all I 'need' at the moment. But then again I don't drink much cabernet sauvignon. Maybe I'll try it and see if it actually works better in the appointed glass!

If you have a Le Creuset outlet store near you, check it out for the Riedels. We do, and they are closing out the Riedel glassware....picked up several of the Syrah glasses just last week.

Nothing directly for the kitchen but I was enrolled in a food/wine pairing class at the local kitchen supply store. Class is in February, taught by the owner/chef of one of the consistent top ten restaurants in Cincy.

Mike,
Where is the Le Creuset outlet in your neck of the woods? How did I not know about this?

TIA
JuliaB

No specialty tools or yummies but two books: "The Lost Art of Real Cooking" by Albala & Nafziger, and "The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice" by Krondl. (...which he says are Venice, Lisbon, Amsterdam).

Jean and I (inadvertently) exchanged kitchentop gizmos for Christmas. I gave her a Sodastream fizzy water maker, which should singlehandedly reduce our recycling output by 50%. In return, Jean got me a home wine preservation system which I duly confess to being skeptical about, but which I will certainly give a go.

Mark Lipton

[Jenise]

Jean and I (inadvertently) exchanged kitchentop gizmos for Christmas.
Mark Lipton

Tell me more about the Sodastream. I'm a fizzy water fan and have wondered about home machines myself.

Jean and I (inadvertently) exchanged kitchentop gizmos for Christmas.
Mark Lipton

Tell me more about the Sodastream. I'm a fizzy water fan and have wondered about home machines myself.

Will do. In the aftermath of Christmastime travel, I haven't yet set it up, but we will soon, with impressions to follow. It certainly looks good, so unless it's a pig it'll be popular chez nous.

Mark Lipton

Jenise,
The box arrived today and Jean set up her Sodastream. After 5 hours of use, I count myself among its fans. It's very easy to set up, takes up very little counter space and requires no power. To use it, you take one of the two bottles supplied with the machine, fill it with cold water and screw it into place, then hit the carbonation button about 5-6 times. After the machine has indicated the proper carbonation level (by making a rather loud farting sound three times) you unscrew the bottle, cap it and stick it in the fridge. To my taste, the soda water we make tastes better than what we buy (greater minerality). Since we like mineral water with lime flavor, I put a twist of lime zest in my glass and it tasted great. All in all, it was a most satisfactory first trial, and the black-and-silver Sodastream unit fits nicely into our appliance color scheme, too.

Mark Lipton

[Jenise]

Mark, sounds very intriguing. Is this the brand? Which model? And how long before you need to replace the Carbon Dioxide canister?

Mark, sounds very intriguing. Is this the brand? Which model? And how long before you need to replace the Carbon Dioxide canister?

Jenise,
In my earlier post in this thread I have supplied a link to the model we got. Since we don't drink sodas, I had no interest in the various "flavor packets" that certain models come with and just went with the bare bones model. We also went for the black/silver model to match our other appliances.

Mark Lipton

A guitar stand. Now when I play in the kitchen I have a place to set it.
rwj

A guitar stand. Now when I play in the kitchen I have a place to set it.
rwj

How much does an air guitar stand cost?

$20 at Guitar Center. I just traded my custom 6-string fretless bass for a 2008 American Standard Fender Telecaster. So I have officially graduated from air guitar (after 2+ decades) to the real thing. It's fun to sit on the counter and pick while to pot simmers.

rwj

Mike,
Where is the Le Creuset outlet in your neck of the woods? How did I not know about this?

TIA
JuliaB

JuliaB,
The Le Creuset outlet is in the Cincinnati Premium Outlets center off of I-75, exit 29 I think.

Jean and I (inadvertently) exchanged kitchentop gizmos for Christmas. I gave her a Sodastream fizzy water maker, which should singlehandedly reduce our recycling output by 50%.

That's very nice, will be interested in your impressions once you've used couple months. We use an old fashioned soda siphon (uses individual CO2 cartridges), but our consumption of cold seltzer is such that we still go through lots of bottled seltzer. We're resistant to anything that requires counterspace, but this might be a necessity.

Mike,
Where is the Le Creuset outlet in your neck of the woods? How did I not know about this?

TIA
JuliaB

JuliaB,
The Le Creuset outlet is in the Cincinnati Premium Outlets center off of I-75, exit 29 I think.

Thanks, Tom! Found it! Welcome to WLDG...glad we have another Buckeye here. Several of us in the area occasionally get together for offlines; we'll keep you posted.

Cheers!
JuliaB

Mark,

Any further reports on the fizz-maker? Have you tried it on Pepiere Muscadet yet?


Jeff

Mark,

Any further reports on the fizz-maker? Have you tried it on Pepiere Muscadet yet?

Funny you should ask, Jeff, as I was just thinking that I needed to update this thread. In short, it's a winner. The CO2 canister is supposedly good for 60 liters of fizzy water and ours lasted through the end of January with us making typically 2 bottles of fizz per day. Used canisters, we found, can be exchanged at Bed, Bath and Beyond for filled ones for $15, so the annual cost of operation for as much fizzy water as we can drink is $180. Our friends loved it so much that they all went out and got their own.

Mark Lipton

Good to hear. Have you tried it on any non-waters yet?

Good to hear. Have you tried it on any non-waters yet?

Nope. I'd be a bit concerned about fizzing up Pepiere as I treasure those aromatics so much, but maybe I'll try to recharge some flat Champagne some day.

Mark Lipton